Then Came the Rain
by Harpokrates
Summary: Debts must be repaid, unless the debtor happens to be an amoral wretch, in which case, intimidation is key.


The medbay door gently wooshed open. Its soft automation was a sharp contrast to the shrieking headache on wings that it allowed in.

"Starscream," Knock Out said, politely enough, "to what do I owe the _pleasure_?"

He caught a glimpse of Starscream's deep sneer in the autoclave's reflective surface before he managed to flatten out his face and apply a patently false smile.

"Simply a courtesy call, doctor," Starscream tapped a pile of unsorted energon packets with a claw, "after all, I'm sure you must be dying for company."

Knock Out curled his hands into fists before they could tremor.

"Not really," he replied drolly, "I'm quite busy."

"Oh?"

"Yes," he ground out, programming another cycle into the autoclave. Some occult quality of Insecticon's energon made it practically _impossible_ to decontaminate in a single steam cycle. Running the autoclave a second time seemed to work—nothing showed up on the standard chemical and microscopic exams, at least—but he maintained a separate set of equipment regardless.

"Hm," Starscream left the energon packets alone and continued to circle the room, "I can imagine you'd be bogged down. After all, with poor Breakdown gone…"

He let the sentence hang. He was clearly waiting for a reaction. Knock Out refused to give him one. He continued down his list of chores—basic maintenance of the medbay, all the mundane laboratory tests, even simply speaking with the drones and Insecticons who made up his patients. Starscream was right: he was bogged down.

Even so, he couldn't find any resentment for it. He appreciated the distraction.

"Well," Starscream said suddenly, "I'm sure we can find a Vehicon to run your errands."

"Please," Knock Out muttered, "I would trust one of _them_ to run a crossmatch panel, much less something _difficult_."

"Can you even do surgeries?" Starscream tapped his chin, "I was under the impression that you only knew how to poke around in a processor."

"I am a fully qualified doctor, _thank you_ ," Knock Out snapped at Starscream, as he crossed the room to retrieve one of the energon packets. "Choosing to specialize has done nothing to hamper my considerable skills."

Starscream scowled. "Of course. How could I forget."

By the tone of his voice, it wasn't a question.

Knock Out answered it anyways. "Too long living on substandard energon, I assume. It affects processor function."

He paused, and looked at Starscream to gauge how far he could push his luck.

"It would account for memory loss," he continued, "impulsiveness, _poor decision making_."

Starscream laughed. There was very little humor in his voice. "I've been making poor decisions for _years_ now. Speaking of, have you had a chance to process Dreadwing's corpse yet?"

"Already smelted." Perhaps goading Starscream had been unwise.

"Ah, a pity. I would have liked to look at the results of our Lord's," he paused, " _peculiar_ temper."

"Look in a mirror," Knock Out said under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," Knock Out tossed the energon pack into a bin. It sloshed unpleasantly. He knew he should have processed these ages ago; now they were all but expired. His reagent had gone bad as well, but Breakdown always knew where to find it. Knock Out would ask him to make a run and…

Knock Out stifled a sigh. No, no he wouldn't.

"Can I show you the door?" He asked, irritation finally breaking through the blithe tone of his voice.

"Aren't you being rude?" Starscream pressed his claws to his chest.

 _Yes_ , said his mind.

"Of course not," said his mouth, "I'm busy."

"You should be careful, _doctor_ ," Starscream ran his filthy claws along the polished surface of the operating table. Knock Out sneered.

"Oh?"

"Yes, well," he crossed his arms lazily across his chest, "with poor Breakdown having departed us…"

"What do you want?"

Starscream feigned offense. "Want? What would ever give you that impression."

"I've known you for more than an hour, Commander," Knock Out crossed the room and programmed the sanitation drone to autoclave the operating table, again.

"Why, Knock Out, I'm _appalled_ I seem so… opportunistic to you. No, I am simply here to give you a piece of, shall we say, friendly advice."

"Oh?" Knock Out glanced over his shoulder. "And what would that be? Don't pester Megatron? The location of the best energon _refuse_?"

Starscream's face contorted as he bit down his offense. "No, doctor. Just a reminder."

Starscream was across the room in a flash, and Knock Out felt a sudden, sinking thought wrap its icy fingers around his processor: Starscream was the Air Commander for a reason. He held his head very still, and the tips of Starscream's claws pricked the cabling in his neck every time he vented.

"Oh?" He dared that much movement, and a thin trickle of energon beaded down his neck.

Starscream leaned close, his mouth by Knock Out's ear.

"Megatron is awake. We have little use for your particular skills now, so you'd be wise to make yourself _necessary_. Dear Breakdown left you with a few debts."

He pulled away as abruptly as he'd come. Knock Out tried not to grasp, keeping his movements steady as he clamped a hand over his neck. His fingers trembled.

"I am the only doctor onboard this ship, Starscream," he said once his voice stopped shaking.

"So you are," Starscream agreed, wiping his finger clean on a spare bit of cloth, "which is why it is has suddenly become vital that you are on _my_ side."

"Your side?"

Starscream gave him an inscrutable look.

Knock Out's mind ran. Was he really implying that he was planning on betraying Megatron? Again?

"You're playing a dangerous game."

"Yes, and you owe me."

"Owe you?"

"By proxy," Starscream explained, waving his hand grandly, "this was not the first time Breakdown was captured by MECH."

"I am fully aware."

"Oh, and are you aware _I_ was the one that saved him? He would have been a suit for that fleshbag ages ago if not for my intervention."

Knock Out snorted, and pulled his hand away from his neck. "Of course I was."

There was not a single thing about Breakdown that he didn't know, but he wasn't about to tell Starscream that.

"Then you know you own me."

"Debt doesn't work that way, Starscream. You should have collected sooner."

Starscream waved a hand. "Then we'll call it incentive."

"What for?"

"Survival," Starscream hissed, and stepped back into Knock Out's personal space. "You really think our dear leader is as invulnerable as he likes to present? No, either Prime falls or Megatron falls, and it won't be much of a challenge at this point to recall who has the better track record."

"Are you implying the Auto—"

"I am implying nothing," the tension in Starscream's voice faded back to something more casual, "only considering. And planning."

"And what part do I play in this… _plan_?"

"Simple," Starscream leaned back. Knock Out vented in relief. "You stand by my side."

"When?"

"The opportune moment. I'm sure you'll recognize it." Starscream keyed open the door.

"You're insane," Knock Out breathed.

"This is about survival, doctor. I'd expect you to be pragmatic."

Then he stepped out the door. It cycled shut behind him. Knock Out collapsed back on the bench, his legs barely able to support his weight.

Damn Starscream. Damn his conniving and damn his rank.

Knock Out pushed himself off the bench and stared out of the port window.

Survival?

Perhaps Starscream had a point. The war _was_ going poorly, and had been for some time. They had the Autobots on the run, but there were only so many drones to act as a buffer for laser fire. It was the same way across the galaxy. Knock Out was privy to only the occasional 'state of the war' report, but Megatron's temper was very demonstrative. They were very slowly loosing, and it was turning into a war of attrition. It would be wise to consider all of his options.

Hopefully, the Autobots were hiring.

* * *

Title is from Blasphemous Rumors, by Depeche Mode.

Uh, so, I didn't really like Knock Out's defection in Predacons Rising. It was neat and all, and it made sense for his character (gotta win!), but it wasn't really set up in the series. So, here you go.

An autoclave is an instrument used to sterilize medical (and other) equipment. It does so via steam.

A crossmatch panel is fake medical jargon for blood compatibility testing. The real name is a crossmatch, or an antibody panel. It's used to detect unexpected antibodies (anti-d antibody, anti-e antibody, anti-E antibody, etc. Not ABO), in the blood (plasma, technically) so you don't get a transfusion reaction.

Thanks for reading!


End file.
